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Religion Data of Census 2011: X
Declining share of Jains in the population of India
Like the Sikhs, Jains have registered rather low growth during 2001-11; their decadal
growth rate of 5.37 percent is even lower than that of Sikhs who have grown at a
relatively robust 8.42 percent. Unlike the Sikhs, however, the lower growth of Jains
seems understandable in view of their very high urban ratios and very high levels of
both male and female literacy. What is difficult to understand in their case are the
sudden and sharp changes in their growth since 1981; their rate of growth declined
sharply to just 5.0 percent in 1981-91, it rose equally sharply to 26.0 percent in 1991-
2001 and has declined again to 5.37 percent in 2001-11. These sharp changes are
probably related to other than demographic causes. But, Jains seem to have entered a
phase of low growth after 1981.
Jains are a sub-group within the Hindu trading Castes; their low growth raises the
important question whether the trading Castes as a whole have begun to grow at a
much lower level than others. Could it be happening with other literate Castes like the
Brahmins, etc., also? The Census does not collect the data to answer such questions.
Number and Share of Jains, 1951-2011
Total number of Jains counted in
Number and Growth of Jains (counted), 1951-2011
2011 is 44.5 lakhs; in 1951, there
were 16 lakhs of them in India. In Census
Year
Persons Percent
in ’000s Share
Growth
Jains %
Growth
Hindus %
the Table here, we have compiled
the number of Jains as counted in
1951 1,618 0.45 – –
1961 2,027 0.46 25.28 20.73
the seven decennial Censuses since 1971 2,605 0.48 28.52 23.68
1951. Up to 1981, the Jains were 1981 3,193 0.47 22.57 21.27
growing somewhat faster than the 1991 3,353 0.40 5.01 25.09
Hindus. In 1981-91, however, their 2001 4,225 0.41 26.02 20.35
rate of growth suddenly declined 2011 4,452 0.37 5.37 16.76
far below Hindus. In that decade, Jains grew by only 5.01 percent. In the following
decade, their rate of growth once again rose to 26.02 percent. Now, in 2001-11, they
have registered a growth of 5.37 percent, which is similar to their growth in 1981-91.
The Census was not conducted in Assam in 1981 and J&K in 1991. If we correct for
this the rate of growth of Hindus rises slowly up to 1981 and smoothly declines after
that, as we have shown in our eighth post on this issue. If we apply the same
correction to Jains, their growth of 1971-81 becomes somewhat bigger and that of
1981-1991 somewhat smaller, thus making the changes in their growth even more
abrupt. This sudden decline in the growth rate of Jains in 1981-1991, sharp rise in
1991-2001 and sharp decline again in 2001-11, is difficult to understand or explain.
But, they certainly seem to have entered a phase of decline after 1981. In the 3
decades since 1981, the proportion of Jains in the population of India has declined by
more than 20 percent, from 0.47 percent in 1981 to 0.37 percent in 2011.
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Distribution of Jains across India
To understand the rise and decline in the growth of Jains during the last two decades,
it is instructive to begin by looking at the distribution of Jains across the country. In
the Table below, we have compiled the number, proportion and growth rates of Jains
in 1991, 2001 and 2011 for all the States where there is a significant population of
Jains. The 16 States listed here account for all but about 40 thousand Jains in the
country. We also show the district-wise numbers of Jains in 2011 in Map X-A.
StateNumber of Jains Percentage Share Growth Rate %
1991- 2001-
PUNJAB
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 2001 2011
INDIA 33,52,706 42,25,053 44,51,753 0.40 0.41 0.37 26.02 5.37
Maharashtra 9,65,840 13,01,843 14,00,349 1.22 1.34 1.25 34.79 7.57
Rajasthan 5,62,806 6,50,493 6,22,023 1.28 1.15 0.91 15.58 -4.38
Gujarat 4,91,331 5,25,305 5,79,654 1.19 1.04 0.96 6.91 10.35
Madhya P 4,47,111 5,45,446 5,67,028 0.92 0.90 0.78 21.99 3.96
Chhattisgarh 43,213 56,103 61,510 0.25 0.27 0.24 29.83 9.64
Karnataka 3,26,114 4,12,659 4,40,280 0.73 0.78 0.72 26.54 6.69
NCT of Delhi 94,672 1,55,122 1,66,231 1.00 1.12 0.99 63.85 7.16
Haryana 35,296 57,167 52,613 0.21 0.27 0.21 61.96 -7.97
Punjab 20,763 39,276 45,040 0.10 0.16 0.16 89.16 14.68
Uttar Pradesh 1,70,786 2,07,111 2,13,267 0.13 0.12 0.11 21.27 2.97
Tamil Nadu 66,900 83,359 89,265 0.12 0.13 0.12 24.60 7.09
West Bengal 34,355 55,223 60,141 0.05 0.07 0.07 60.74 8.91
Andhra P 26,564 41,846 53,849 0.03 0.05 0.06 57.53 28.68
Assam – 23,957 25,949 – 0.09 0.08 – 8.31
Bihar 11,332 16,085 18,914 0.02 0.02 0.02 41.94 17.59
Jharkhand 11,717 16,301 14,974 0.05 0.06 0.05 39.12 -8.14
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Jains are concentrated in the western India
Jains in India are particularly concentrated in the western India. Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka account for about 30.5 lakhs out of the total 44.5
lakh Jains counted in 2011. Within Karnataka, a majority of the Jains are in the
western districts; of 4.40 lakh Jains in the State, 1.78 lakh are in Belgaum district and
another 60 thousand in the adjoining Bagalkot and Dharwar districts. Apart from
these northwestern districts, there is a concentration of Jains in Bangalore.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh form another concentration
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh together accommodate another 6.28 lakh Jains. In
Chhattisgarh, more than half the Jains are in Durg and Raipur. In Madhya Pradesh,
they are distributed all across the State, but their presence is particularly high in the
western Malwa districts of Ashoknagar, Guna, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Ujjain,
Shajapur, Indore and Jhabua; in Sagar, Damoh and Tikamgarh of Bundelkhand; and
in Bhind and Gwalior.
Jains have a significant presence in Delhi and adjoining States
Jains form about 1 percent of the population of Delhi and they have a share of about
0.2 percent in Haryana and Punjab and about 0.1 percent in Uttar Pradesh. These four
States together accommodate about 4.7 lakh Jains. In Uttar Pradesh, Jains are
particularly concentrated in the western districts adjoining Haryana and Madhya
Pradesh. There are also more than 9 thousand Jains in Uttarakhand; most of them are
located in Dehradun and Hardwar districts.
Jains in other States
Outside these western, central and northern States, Jains have a remarkable presence
only in Tamil Nadu, where they form 0.12 percent of the population. There are also
significant numbers of Jains in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana),
Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Map X-A shows pockets of Jain concentration
in all these States.
Growth rates of Jains in different States
As seen in Table above,
Growth Rate of Jains, 1961-2011
the all India pattern of
1961-71 1971-81 1981-91 1991-01 2001-11
Jains recording a spurt in
INDIA 28.52 22.57 5.01 26.02 5.37
growth in 1991-2001 is
Maharasthtra 44.88 33.50 2.82 34.79 7.57
repeated in almost every
Rajasthan 25.43 21.57 -9.85 15.58 -4.38
State except Gujarat. The
Gujarat 10.21 3.59 5.04 6.91 10.35
spurt was particularly
Madhya P 39.24 28.90 10.20 22.68 4.49
sharp in the northern
Karnataka 25.52 36.15 9.44 26.54 6.69
States of Delhi, Haryana
and Punjab. In Punjab, Haryana 20.62 13.82 -0.52 61.96 -7.97
Delhi 70.68 46.33 28.08 63.85 7.16
Jains have grown faster
than the total population in 2001-11 also. In the Table here we have compiled growth
rates of Jains since 1961-71 for all States with a significant Jain population and
presence. In all of these States, except Gujarat, the decadal growth of Jains declined
substantially in 1981-91. This was followed by a very significant rise in the growth
rate during the next decade of 1991-2001. And then in 2001-11, there is an equally
sharp decline, with the growth rates turning negative in Haryana and Rajasthan. In
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both these States, the growth rate of Jains was negative even in 1981-91; in Haryana,
that negative growth was followed by extraordinary growth of 62 percent in the next
decade.
In Gujarat, however, the growth rate of Jains declined from the rather low 10.2
percent in 1961-71 to just 3.6 percent in 1971-81; since then, it has been slowly rising.
During 2001-11, Jains in Gujarat have grown by 10.4 percent, but that is also far
below the growth of Hindus at 18.6 percent.
The sudden rise of growth in most States, except Gujarat, in 1991-2001, could be a
demographic quirk, but it is more likely to be the result of some campaign to get more
persons counted as Jains. Growth rates are unlikely to rise so sharply based on only
demographic parameters. Similarly, the rather low growth of 1981-91 may also be
partly related to other than demographic causes. But overall indications are that the
Jain community has settled into a low growth period, which has set in from 1981-91.
Jains have a relatively high gender ratio
The growth rate of Jains has declined even
Gender Ratios of Jains and Hindus, 2011
though their gender ratio is somewhat
Total Hindus Jains
higher than the Hindus and of the total
INDIA 943 939 954
population. As seen in the Table here, at the
Maharashtra 929 928 964
all India average level, Jains have 954
Rajasthan 928 926 958
females per thousand males compared to
939 among Hindus. The ratio for Jains is Gujarat 919 916 966
Madhya P 931 929 942
higher than Hindus in all States where there
is a significant Jain presence, except Chhattisgarh 991 990 947
Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. The gap Karnataka 973 972 952
between the gender ratios for Jains and Punjab 895 879 935
Hindus is among the highest in Gujarat, Haryana 879 876 895
where their growth has also been the high. Delhi 868 865 942
But the gap between is fairly high in Uttar P 912 907 937
Maharashtra and Delhi also, where their Tamilnadu 996 992 957
growth has been moderate, though higher West Bengal 950 948 958
than their national average. The growth rates thus do not seem to have any direct
relationship with the gender ratios. This is also not expected; demographic
phenomena are complex and cannot be determined by any single parameter.
Various socio-economic parameters for Jains and Hindus
Jains have high female literacy
From the community-wise data on literacy and other socio-economic and
demographic parameters that has been released by the Census of India last week, it
seems that the Jains have very high literacy in general and particularly high literacy
among women. In the Table below we have compiled data for the literacy, child ratio
and work participations rates of men and women for Jains and Hindus for both 2001
and 2011. Before 2001, the Census was not publishing community-wise data on these
parameters.
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From the Table, it
Literary, Child Ratio, WPR of Hindus and Jains: INDIA 2011
is clear that
Religion Lit Lit-M Lit-F 0-6% WPR WPR-M WPR-F
literacy among
Hindu 73.27 81.70 64.34 13.20 41.04 53.91 27.35
Jains is much
Jain 94.88 96.78 92.91 8.91 35.53 57.71 12.27
higher than
INDIA 2001
Hindus, though the
Hindu 65.09 76.16 53.21 15.63 40.36 52.37 27.45
gap has become
Jain 94.08 97.41 90.58 10.62 32.09 55.19 9.20
somewhat
Lit: Literary Ratio; Lit-M: Male Literacy Ratio; Lit-F: Female Literacy
narrower in 2011. Ratio; 0-6%: Percentage of population in 0-6 year age group; WPR: Work
The gap between Participation Rate; WPR-M: Male WPR; WPR-F: Female WPR
the female literacy
rates of Jains and Hindus is even wider; 92.9 percent of Jain women above the age of
6 years are literate; the ratio is 64.3 percent for Hindus. In 2001, the female literacy
ratios for the two communities were 90.6 and 53.2 percent, respectively.
Female literacy among Jains is high almost everywhere. In all major States of India,
except Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, female literacy among Jains is above 90
percent; in these three States, it is above 80 percent.
Jains have low number of children in the 0-6 age group
Jains have much lower number of children per hundred of the population than Hindus.
The ratio is 8.9 for Jains and 13.2 for Hindus. Thus, per hundred of the population,
Jains have 4.3 fewer children. The gap was even wider in 2001. Such low number of
children, of course, reflects in the lower growth rates of the population. This is
another indicator to show that the spurt in the growth of Jains in 1991-2001 was
probably abnormal and was not related to the usual demographic parameters.
The data for Jains seems to strongly indicate that higher literacy among women
translates into lower number of children. We have seen this phenomenon among
Sikhs also, though not as strongly as among the Jains. But as we have said earlier,
female literacy alone does not determine the fertility of a population.
And work participation rate of Jain women is low
Along with high female literacy and low number of children in the population, Jains
also have very low rates of work participation for women. In 2001, only 9.2 percent of
Jain women were working compared to 27.5 percent of Hindu women; in 2011, work
participation rate of Jain women has somewhat improved to reach 12.3 percent, while
the rate for Hindu women has remained nearly unchanged.
Jains are highly urban
Another significant feature of the Jain community is their very high level of
urbanisation. Of 44.5 lakh Jains counted in 2011, as many as 35.5 lakhs are urban.
This amounts to an urban ratio of 79.7 percent, compared to 29.2 percent of Hindus
and 31.1 percent for the total population. The urban ratio of Jains is high in all major
States. The rural Jains are also often located in larger locations that act as trading
centres for the area around them.
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The higher female literacy among Jains is partly related to their higher level of
urbanisation. In general, urban female literacy in India is much higher than the rural;
in 2011, 79 percent of the urban women of age above 6 years are literate compared to
only 58 percent of the rural women.
The lower number of children among Jains may also be partly related to their higher
level of urbanisation. On the average, there are 11.45 children per 100 of population
in the urban areas compared to 14.55 in the rural areas. But the number of children
among Jains at 8.91 per hundred is much lower than the national urban average also.
Incidentally, urban Jains have even fewer children; the ratio for them is only 8.64 per
100 of the urban population.
Dr. J. K. Bajaj
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January 7, 2016
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